Assigning jobs on Capitol Hill
Even after establishing a civil service system for the executive branch, Congress continued to assign most of its own jobs according to patronage. At first this was because Congress met for only half the year and hired a small staff for only those months. Only a few committees, such as Finance, Ways and Means, Printing, and Claims, which received correspondence and other documents even after Congress had adjourned, were authorized to employ a year-round staff. Members of the House and Senate appointed their own office staffs. Sometimes members appointed their wives, children, and other relatives as their secretaries, messengers, or committee clerks. New ethics laws eventually outlawed nepotism, but members continued to appoint their campaign supporters to posts in their own offices and committees and to other jobs around the Capitol. Both parties had patronage committees to assign clerks, elevator operators, and Capitol police to their members for patronage appointments.
Patronage began to decline after World War II, as Congress began to meet on a year-round basis and as the growth in members' personal staffs relieved the pressure of making patronage appointments elsewhere. But outside of members' own offices (where staffs generally reflect the member's political leaning), the trend in the general operations of Congress has continued toward a permanent, professional, and nonpartisan staff.
